I'm in a fairly good mood considering that despite feeling like utter shit all day yesterday, I finished chapter 25 of YWHOAOU and currently have about 1400 words written of chapter 26 :D Yay! I was originally planning on giving you guys the epilogue to WDHYSOP tomorrow or sunday but... I just love you guys too much <3 So here you go!

Also, I didn't get any medical advice from Jo-Lyn so please bear with me.... :|

Now on to the epilogue!

BEFORE:

The quick little breaths became faster, more desperate, until they seemed to just stop altogether... and Shawn’s eyelids drooped shut.

Lassiter vaguely recognized that the wetness covering his cheeks were tears.

“That pain in the ass actually followed directions for once,” he chuckled in disbelief. Juliet gave him a look of confused admonition.

“How is he?” Lassiter asked. She blinked in surprise before responding.

“The gunshot wound was badly infected but he made it through surgery just fine. The doctors are amazed at how fast his body is recovering and fighting the infection,” Juliet said, shaking her head in wonder. “They said they don’t understand the turnaround after his body succumbed to the infection so quickly before.”

Lassiter just chuckled.

“It’s because he got out of that damn hole in the ground.”

Juliet cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“How long have I been out?” Lassiter asked, preventing her from asking what he meant.

“Almost three days,” Juliet said softly, the stress causing her voice to waver slightly. “The doctor said it was likely a combination of dehydration, starvation, exhaustion, and... emotional trauma.”

Lassiter inclined his head slightly at the last one.

“He died in front of me,” he murmured.

“Shawn’s alive, Carlton,” Juliet insisted with a look of alarm.

“I know,” he snapped gruffly. “But it looked like he died. I was sure of it...”

Juliet nodded in understanding.

“You two were locked in that cellar for over forty-eight hours...” she said after a minute.

“We didn’t find out until later... they kept us in that hole for nearly four months...”

They kept him in the hospital another day for observation before releasing him. Shawn was taken off of sedation around the same time but remained at the hospital for another week until the doctors were sure the infection had fully cleared from his system. Lassiter never visited him despite the attempts of Juliet, the Chief, Gus, and even Henry to get him to go.

He just shook his head and ignored them every time they brought it up.

The first time Lassiter even heard from Shawn as two days after Shawn was released from the hospital, Lassiter’s first day back at work. When he arrived at the station, there was a pineapple sitting on top of his desk and underneath it was a post-it note in Shawn’s messy scrawl that simply said,

‘Thanks’

The post-it note was stuck to a folded piece of paper. When Lassiter carefully unfolded and read it, he simply stood there with a stunned expression on his face.

It was a photocopy of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act with a few lines highlighted:

“(b) Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

Lassiter laughed long and hard, pocketing the paper. He had his answers and was perfectly fine not sharing them.

Some secrets were best left in a dark hole in the ground.

Chapter End Notes:

I know, it's just a short little thing that doesn't answer many questions. However! I will be willing to answer some questions about the backstory in the reviews, so go ahead and ask :) And I'm really curious what you guys think! So please, please, please, please, PLEASE tell me! With a chocolate covered Shawn on top! *coughs* ¬_¬

Oh and if you want to read the whole text of Intelligence Identities Protection Act, you can read it on WikiSource :) Technically Lassie would fall into section (c) since he accidentally found out/sussed out the truth. The fines aren't as bad (nor is the jail time) but I chose to use section (b) because it had better wording for what I needed it for :)

Oh hey, how about for shits and giggles.... the opening lines to the fourth chapter of Seven Devils?

Shawn slowly stepped to the side, his movements calculated as he covertly reached for the door handle, a nervous grin on his face. Then, in a flash, he pulled open the door and threw himself in the car, quickly locking both doors behind him.

“SHAWN! Unlock the door right now or I swear to god I’ll shoot you!” Dean snapped, tugging at the handle on the driverside door. Shawn shook his head from where he laid sprawled across the front seat, post frantic dive into the vehicle.

“No can do, Dean-o! You’ll murder me!” he called back. Dean stopped pulling on the handle for a moment and turned around, silently yelling obscenities that included the other man’s name and numerous illegal actions.

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